Lyons concluded 2014 with highest wins total since 2009

NORTON, Mass. – Fifth-seeded Wellesley College earned a 3-1 victory over fourth-seeded Wheaton College by scores of 25-16, 24-26, 25-21 and 25-20 on Tuesday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament quarterfinal matchup inside Emerson Gymnasium.

With the win, Wellesley (17-10) will play first-seeded MIT (26-4) on Saturday, November 8 in Cambridge, Mass. in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals at 1 p.m. The Blue have appeared in the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the last nine seasons. Wheaton concludes its season at 18-14 overall, posting its highest win total since 2009 (18-15). The Lyons also compiled 15 or more wins in a season for the 15th in program history in 2014.

Senior outside hitter Sydney Carfagno (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) powered the Wellesley offense with 21 kills on 42 attempts for a .381 hitting percentage, alongside 17 digs, four assists, three service aces and a perfect serve-receive percentage on 25 attempts. Carfagno has now produced 20 or more kills in three-straight contests and four in her last five matches in addition to recording four doubles-doubles during that span as well.

Classmate Caitlin Laughlin (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park Senior) added 11 kills and junior Courtney Lang (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy) chipped in with ten putaways. Senior Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) posted seven kills, 13 digs, three assists and one service ace in addition to a .966 serve-receive percentage on 28 attempts (one error). Sophomore setter Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy) dished out 46 assists (.407 set percentage) and bumped up ten attacks to round out the list of highlights for the Blue. Koh has collected 40 or more assists in five matches this season and has averaged 51 assists in her last three contests (153 total).

For the tenth time this year and 11th overall in her career, junior outside hitter/setter Deirdre Wilson (Aptos, Calif./Aptos) registered a triple-double on 16 kills (.400 hitting percentage), 16 assists and 18 digs. Classmate Arieanne Creighton (Brookline, N.H./Hollis Brookline) had seven kills, while juniors Casey Hess (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) and Kendall Jacobs (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) notched six kills apiece.

Sophomore setter Caitlin Hellebrand (Corona, Calif./Santiago) handed out 17 assists and also recorded seven digs, while first-year libero Stephanie Martin (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) tallied 14 digs and a .955 serve-receive percentage on 42 attempts (two errors).

Wellesley never trailed in its set one victory (25-16) as Carfagno guided the attack with six kills. Fieldman and senior middle hitter Lindsey Menichella (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day) also aided the offense with three putaways each. Despite six ties in the set, the Blue finally broke away with the score deadlocked at 13-13 with a 6-0 to take a commanding 19-13 advantage. Carfagno, Fieldman, Menichella and Lang all put home swings during the spurt, while Carfagno also turned in a service ace and the Blue received a point on an attacking error by Wheaton.

In set two, Wheaton rallied from an 18-10 deficit behind an electric crowd to force the match even at 1-1. Wilson connected on six kills and Hess ripped four swings for points to spearhead the comeback victory. The Lyons, who put together their best hitting percentage on the night of .306, rallied with a 12-4 run to knot up the score at 22-22. Three of Hess' four putaways came during the offensive outburst, while junior middle hitter Sarah Alexander (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) contributed to the run with two kills and Wilson and junior outside hitter Taylor Matook (Exeter, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich) each had one kill as well.

Following an error by Wellesley and a kill by Wilson, which was sandwiched in between two putaways from the Blue, put the score at 24-all before Wilson and Hess rattled off back-to-back kills to claim the set, 26-24.

Wheaton led once in set three at the 14-13 mark, but Wellesley used an 8-3 to take a 21-17 advantage forcing the Lyons to take its second timeout of the set. The Blue held off a late rally by the hosts capitalizing on three errors down the stretch.

Set four featured 11 ties and three lead changes before Wellesley wrapped up its NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal triumph on the road. Trailing 20-15, Wheaton called its final timeout to try an regroup as the Lyons were facing elimination. Wellesley then came out of its huddle and helped the hosts pull within three in a matter of moments with a service error and an attack error. Wellesley promptly called a timeout and went on to take the set 25-20 behind two kills – one coming from Carfagno and another by Menichella – and three errors by the Lyons.

Wellesley recorded 56 kills on the night (.287 hitting percentage) and 64 digs alongside a season-high 17 service errors and a .961 serve-receive percentage. Wheaton had 45 kills (.167 hitting percentage) and 55 digs in the loss.

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